KIOWA — A meeting between Elbert County commissioners and the county’s newspaper of record was scuttled Wednesday morning after a commissioner allegedly screamed at a resident who had claimed the board violated open-meetings law.

Elbert County is examining its relationship with the Ranchland News, which prints the county’s legal notices. The county is unhappy with the newspaper’s “negative” coverage, and that is one reason Elbert County is considering other options — along with costs — an official said.

Several weeks ago, Ranchland News ran a copy of an affidavit filed by a resident that claimed Sheriff Shayne Heap received much more money than he should have in unused vacation time when he left his undersheriff position to become sheriff.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is investigating.

Some have suggested that the county threatened to take the legal notices to another paper if it did not retract the affidavit.

Public information officer Cory Stark said the county had been exploring its options before the newspaper ran the affidavit, but he acknowledged the negative press Elbert County receives from Ranchland News also played a factor.

“Our staff evaluated the costs and some of the negativity that is published in that newspaper” was taken into consideration, Stark said.

The county does not have a contract with Ranchland News, Stark said. He was unable to say how much the county pays for the legal advertising.

The issue boiled over Wednesday, when the paper’s publishers, Fred and Susan Lister, arrived at a scheduled and posted meeting with the commissioners. When the Listers arrived, they saw a crowd of between 30 and 40 people and, concerned about the big audience, met with Commissioners Del Schwab and John Shipper in a nearby office with the door open, Lister said.

When the crowd got wind of it, resident Belinda Seville approached the discussion, telling the commissioners they were violating open-meetings laws. Two of three commissioners in the same room qualified as a quorum and the meeting should be open to everyone, Seville said.

That’s when Shipper began yelling at Seville at close range, to “get out of here, get out of here,” Seville said.

“He proceeded to slam the door in my face. He started screaming ‘call the sheriff, call the sheriff,’ ” she said.

The Listers promptly left the meeting because the crowd had gotten “moblike,” Fred Lister said, noting that Seville was also yelling. “It was over before it started.”

Lister would not say whether the county threatened to take its business elsewhere. He suggested those interested in the issue should read his newspaper next week.

If there was a threat, that would violate the paper’s First Amendment rights, said attorney Tom Kelley, who represents The Denver Post and the Colorado Press Association. He also said holding a meeting — even in this situation — with a quorum and limiting it from the public is also a violation of open-meeting laws.

“The quorum makes it an open meeting, and they have to let the public know it is happening so they can attend,” Kelley said.

Meanwhile, Seville said she hasn’t decided whether to ask for criminal charges against Shipper.

Kelley said it would be borderline misdemeanor harassment — if at all.

Carlos Illescas had been with The Denver Post since 1997 before leaving in June 2016. He had worked as a reporter covering the suburbs and was a weekend editor. He previously worked for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Aspen Daily News and graduated from Colorado State University in 1991.